Review of Disability and Rehabilitation Research: NIDRR Grantmaking Processes and Products

摘要

The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) is one of the principal federal agencies supporting applied research, training, and development to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities. NIDRR's mission is to generate new knowledge and promote its effective use in improving the ability of persons with disabilities to perform activities of their choice in the community, as well as to expand society's capacity to provide full opportunities and accommodations for its citizens with disabilities. NIDRR aims to reach all disability types and age groups, and its mission is tied to long-term outcomes such as independence, community participation, and employment. Assessing the outcomes of research is a complex undertaking that can variably take into account the stated goals of the research, the contribution to the relevant field of research, the impact on the well-being of a particular population, or other related issues. The Government Performance and Results Act has led to a particular emphasis on establishing specific performance measures assessing the outputs of research programs. NIDRR takes pride in proactively establishing program performance measures focused on the quality of its grantee outputs, developing account ability data systems to track the results of those measures, and developing internal management systems to facilitate quality research. In 2009, NIDRR requested that the National Research Council form a committee to conduct a 'process evaluation' of aspects of its grant making and a 'summative evaluation' of the quality of grantee outputs. In addition, the committee was charged with assessing the methods it developed for conducting the summative evaluation and making recommendations for the conduct of future evaluations. The requested study was the most recent effort in a series of NIDRR-funded activities aimed at assessing and improving the agency's performance.